Merula x Anon
by negimasensei
Summary: Tl;dr - Some story about a guy and the characters from HPHWM but the MC of this isn't the MC of the game.
1. Chapter 1

"Ready your wand, Barton!" Merula said, as she took an aggressive stance. The two Slytherin students stood opposite each other in the courtyard, well after curfew. They were about to have their fourth duel since coming to Hogwarts, and Merula was not about to lose this one, not like the other three...

"Shut up, Snyde. When will you learn that you'll never win?" The boy taunted her as he drew his own wand and took a more defensive position. However, he had other plans in mind. Merula was too easy. She may have been a bully, but she never tried to cheat. And the best way to win against her in a one on one match was to do just that. Lewis secretly reached for a potion with his free hand. "On the count of three, Snyde! ...One! ...Two! ...Th-!"

Before the boy could finish his countdown, his vision went black. Lewis fell to the ground with a thud.

"What the-?"

Before she could grasp what had just happened, Merula's body went stiff and she began to fall backwards. But instead of hitting the ground, she gently floated in the air. Unable to move or shout out in anger, she darted her eyes around as best she could to see who was behind this. A few moments later, she found the culprit as he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and mounted a strange looking broom next to her.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll destroy me or whatever. But you'll be thanking me in a bit. Hang tight."

Merula felt a rush of wind as the two shot off in to the night sky.

Anon Suomy. A strange boy who had gone missing partway through their first year after touching a cursed muggle object. Everyone had thought he had died, probably because he literally exploded. She saw it herself, and still had the occasional nightmare. All they could find after the 'accident' was bits of his arm splattered about the common room, and a smoldering crater next to the table where he once stood.

But some time during summer break, he showed up again. Some say he isn't the same kid that died and is just some dark creature taking human form, others say the object he touched was actually a portkey or some sort of disapparation device that malfunctioned, splicing his arm off in the process. The only facts the other students knew about him after he showed back up were three things. First, he had his right arm back, or at least AN arm. It was wooden, and clearly magic in origin. It worked just like his old one, even going as far as to have actual feeling in it.

Second, he no longer had a wand. He had a staff. Like an actual, wooden staff. Those clunky, ancient means of casting magic before the creation of the wand. Even with the staff, no one had seen him cast proper magic with it. Rumor had it that he couldn't use magic anymore, and the only reason he was still at Hogwarts is because his parents were Obliviated after his demise, being muggle and all. They say Dumbledore had felt so bad after he showed back up, that he let him stay at Hogwarts since he didn't have a home to go back to anymore. At least not without some serious use of the cruciatus curse on his parents that would most likely make them go mad in the process of remembering.

Third, he wasn't 12 anymore. He was more around the age of 15, and no one could explain why. He stood a solid 6 feet tall now, had messy black hair, and somehow ended up with crimson eyes instead of the brown he had left with. His eyes wouldn't be considered all that strange, seeing as how Merula herself had violet ones along with Madam Hooch's yellow eyes, but his had a tendency to glow faintly in dark places. And despite being 15, he was still in second year, and still a Slytherin.

So how was it that a once dead, mudblooded, magic-less freak took out not only Lewis Barton, but herself? And where in the hell was he taking her? She was clearly stunned with petrificus totalus, but how did he make her float? Non assisted human flight by wizards was impossible. He could have charmed her clothes, but he'd need to be using a wand. He was just dragging her about by the collar, and his staff was nowhere to be seen, only that broom.

As she was still angrily trying to puzzle out what had happened, he landed his broom near some entrance to the school and pulled her inside. After several minutes of staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where they were and where they were headed, she finally saw something familiar. He had brought her down in to the dungeons, and was taking her to the Slytherin common room.

After pulling her inside, he brought her in to the boy's wing of the dormitory, and in to some strange room. He finally let go of her, leaving her to stare up at the unfamiliar ceiling as he went about his business. The flickering shadows in the room and the gentle bubbling sound told her that he was brewing something, though she wasn't sure what.

Anon pulled a small vial from a pocket within his cloak, and emptied the contents in to his cauldron. After adding a few more ingredients and giving it a good stir, he spooned some of the contents in to a small bowl and brought it over to the other side of the room.

"Okay, tell me if this works."

He stood in front of what looked to be a life sized wooden doll, or at least a portion of one. The doll had long, sleek, raven colored hair, a modest torso, and one arm. The other arm, along with the lower half of the body, was missing. Anon dipped his hand in to the potion and rubbed it across her body as if applying sun cream to it.

"Better?

What?

Yes, I know it was stupid. You don't have to tell me twice.

I know.

I KNOW.

But it worked, didn't it?

Oh come on, don't be like that. You know you're worth the risk."

Anon let out a sigh.

"Okay, fine. No more stealing. It just means we're going to either have to buy this shit, which will be hard to do, or we get the rest ourselves. It's going to take a long time.

Yes, I know. But I was only doing this for you. You've done so much for me, but I haven't returned the favor...

...I understand. I don't like it, but I understand. We'll go slow. Here, it's best you come back now. You can't stay like that in your current condition."

Merula tried to see what he was doing and who he was talking to, but to no avail. Was there someone else here? She couldn't really hear anything. God, maybe he really was crazy. Even crazier than Jacob's brother. But before she had any more time to work out what was going on, Anon pushed her floating body over his bed and snapped his fingers. She immediately dropped down with a pomf, and could once again move.

She shot up from the bed and aimed her wand directly at him.

"WHAT. THE. HELL?!"

"Calm down, Snyde. You're safe."

"Safe?! Calm down?! Just what in the hell do you think you're doing, Suomy?! And what in the HELL is that thing?" Merula shouted, noticing the wooden torso hanging on the wall next to the bed.

"Nothing that you need to worry about. But yeah. You're safe. Had I not stopped your stupid pissing contest with Barton, you'd be expelled by now and packing your things."

Merula got off the bed and slowly made her way towards the door, still pointing her wand at him.

"You're fucking crazy, you know that? Bloody fucking crazy! I didn't need your help! You'll pay for this, Suomy. I swear!"

"Yeah, whatever. Just get out of my room if you're going to be a bitch." Anon said, waiving his hand dismissively at her.

Merula shot him a hateful glare as she backed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her. She had no idea what had happened, but she knew he was trouble. And not in the filthy mudblood sort of way like that Cooper kid. No, the feeling she got with him was more like that of her life being in danger.

With a huff, she stormed down the halls and out of the boy's wing, back in to the common room. But before she could make it to the girl's side, a voice stopped her.

"Miss Snyde."

Merula came to a halt. She could recognize that nasally voice anywhere.

"P-Professor Snape! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Snyde. What are you doing up at this hour, coming out of the boy's dormitories no less?"

"See! I-I told you, Professor! She's up to no good!"

Snape wasn't alone. He had Lewis by the collar, who was clearly distressed. Snape must have found him in the courtyard, and of course he had tried to rat her out again.

"W-well I..."

Merula was never good at lies, even though it was supposed to be one of the skills Slytherins were good at.

"Merula!" Anon called out to her, as he came trotting down the hall and in to the common room. "Here, you forgot this," He said as he handed her a copy of last year's charms book. "Oh, Professor! Good evening, sir."

Snape shot him a glare. "Suomy. This now makes THREE students up past curfew, two of which seem to have been spending time together. Would either of you care to give me an explanation?"

"Yes sir," Anon said. "Though Merula might not like me telling you this, she was helping me study."

"Study?"

"Yes, sir. Charms, to be exact."

"And why would she be teaching you charms at this hour, and in the boy's dormitory?"

"Because I had asked her to, sir. This was the only way she'd agree. It had to be late at night when everyone else was asleep and where no one would catch her helping me.

You see, sir, I'm muggle born, as you know. And since we're Slytherin... Well, you know I'm not a favorite amongst my peers. Anyways, Merula was helping me catch up on some of the stuff I had missed out on while I was gone. But given my parentage, she couldn't be seen helping me. She had to keep up her reputation and image and whatnot. But I begged her to help me, and she agreed."

"And so how is it that bringing a girl in to a boys shared room is keeping her assistance a secret? If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Barton is one of your bunkmates."

"Actually sir, I sleep in the broom closet."

"...You what?"

"The broom closet, sir. I sleep in the broom closet. Barton and the others... They kicked me out of the room the first week of school last year. I've been living there since. I figured you knew, seeing as how no one ever put a stop to it."

Snape shook Lewis by the collar. "Is this true, boy?"

"W-w-well sir, i-it's not like we forced him per se..."

"No excuses, Barton."

"Professor, please. It's quite all right. I much prefer it this way."

Snape gave a disapproving groan, but didn't say anything against it. "Regardless, a broom closet is quite a...cozy setting for two young students, is it not?"

"Oh, very much so, sir."

"And how do I know that what you're telling me is true? Why should I take your word over Barton's, who has proven multiple times in the past that Snyde is quite the disappointment outside of the classroom?"

Shit. Merula tensed up. It was true, Barton had gotten her in to hot water multiple times. It would be pretty easy to see past such an obvious lie.

"Well sir, you're free to check my staff. Merula's wand, too, of course."

"What?" The other three said in unison. Clearly this had caught everyone off guard.

"That'll prove what I'm saying is true. We were practicing turning things in to quills."

Snape thought for a moment before barking at Merula and Lewis to follow him, letting Anon lead them back to his room. Merula was getting more and more distraught as they approached the door. He would open it and see that he wasn't living in a broom closet at all, and that this was all one big lie, and-

Anon opened the door to his room, and Merula blinked in surprise. It wasn't the large room she had just stormed out of with the freaky wooden doll thing on the wall, it was really just a small broom closet. There was a makeshift bed along one wall, a stack of school supplies along the other, clothes hanging on a hook on the back wall, and a small lamp in one corner of the room. Anon grabbed his staff, which was propped up against the wall with his school supplies, and handed it to Snape.

"And your wand, Miss Snyde?"

Merula reluctantly reached in to her robes and pulled out her wand, handing it over to the professor.

Snape sat both devices on the floor in front of him, pulled out his own wand, and pointed it at Anon's staff. "Prior Incantato!"

A bright flash briefly erupted from Snape's wand, linking it to Anon's staff. After it had gone, a dark puff of smoke arose, showing a fork partially turning in to a quill before vanishing. Snape kicked the staff aside with his foot and repeated the same process with Merula's wand, with similar results.

"It...Appears you are telling the truth. Be that as it may, you are forbidden from meeting up in this closet again. If I even catch word of it happening, you'll both be scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of the year. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir." Said Anon, with Merula following in agreement.

"As for you, Barton. Twenty points from Slytherin for wasting my time with your lies, and three months detention for being out of bed after curfew. Return to your rooms at once."

Snape shot them all one final glare before turning around and heading off down the hall. Anon picked up his staff from the floor and handed Merula her wand, which she hastily snatched away from him.

"I don't know how you two did this, but I'll find out. And when I do..." Lewis growled at the two of them before heading off towards his room.

Merula also started off back down the hall, turning around once to threaten him before going on her way. "This isn't over, Suomy!"

Anon sighed. What a pain in the ass. He closed the door to the broom closet and re-opened it, revealing his proper room. He went inside and began changing in to his pajamas.

'I told you, stealing from Snape was a bad idea. Had I not taught you how to manipulate spells, that would have ended poorly.'

Anon ignored the cold voice inside his head as he covered himself up under his blankets. Tomorrow was going to be...interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

"What are you doing?" Merula hissed, as she dropped her spoon in her cereal bowl.

"Eating breakfast?" Anon replied, as he took a seat opposite her. The plate in front of him suddenly filled with hashbrowns and sausages, and his goblet with some sort of juice.

"No shit. I mean, what are you doing here?"

"...Eating breakfast?"

"Well, go do it anywhere else! I don't want your mudblood stench ruining mine." She scoffed.

"Well, I've tried everywhere else. People keep flicking food at me."

"If you don't leave right now, I'll start doing it, too!"

Anon rolled his eyes at her response and began to pour a mix of ketchup and syrup all over the contents of his plate, which made Merula gag.

"That's...That's disgusting!"

"Don't knock it 'til you try it, Snyde." Anon said, forking the food in to his mouth.

"I can't believe you! First you ruin my duel, which I would have won by the way, and now you're ruining my breakfast. That's it, Suomy!" Merula reached in to her robes to grab her wand. She was going to cast, well, anything really, as long as it got him off her empty section of table. But before she had a chance to do anything, a spoonful of porridge shot past her head, nearly hitting it's mark across from her.

"See?" Anon sighed. "I told you."

He could see who the culprit was. Lewis Barton, and his stupid friend Rowan. Even sitting with the most unpleasant girl in school wasn't enough to get the food flings to stop. But Anon wasn't sure if Barton was just mad about last night, or trying to be a dick as usual. Probably both.

Merula also turned around to shoot Barton a glare, but quickly ducked out of the way as another shot of food went straight for her. Anon dodged it as well. Suddenly, a realization hit. "Hey Suomy! You're using me as a shield, aren't you?!"

He smirked and gave her a small shrug. "Worth a try."

Merula was furious. She grabbed her goblet of pumpkin juice and threw it directly at Anon. But as soon as it left her hand, it vanished, and she heard an angry shout from behind her along with the sound of metal bouncing off the floor. She turned around to see Barton dripping in pumpkin juice.

Her pumpkin juice.

She snapped back around to shoot Anon a surprised look. "How did you...?"

Anon gave her a wink as another shout came from behind her. This time, Barton's porridge bowl had sprung up in to his face, and the commotion was enough to draw the attention of some of the professors at the front of the room.

"What is going on down there?" McGonagall shouted as she got up from her seat, briskly walking over to Lewis and Rowan's location.

Lewis angrily wiped the mess from his face. "Professor! Anon jinxed by food!"

"Suomy?"

"Yes, Professor! He's right over there!" He said, pointing across the table from him.

"Mr. Barton, I fail to see who you're pointing at."

Lewis blinked a few times. He was pointing at an empty section of table. "Wha... How? How is that possible?! He was just there! With Snyde! Rowan, you saw them, too!"

Rowan nodded in agreement.

Professor McGonagall gave the two a worried look. "Now, I won't deny that something has clearly happened here, but you can't go around accusing people who aren't even in the room!"

"But Professor! I swear!" Lewis slammed his hand down on the table. "I know! They're using some invisibility charm! Look, I'll prove it!"

Lewis grabbed his wand from his robes and pointed it at Rowan's food. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the plate flying across the room and in to the wall. Has someone been sitting there invisible, it would have most certainly hit them instead.

"MISTER BARTON!" McGonagall shouted as she pulled the wand from his outstretched hand. "That's ten points from Slytherin! And you'll be accompanying me to the headmaster's office! NOW!"

Professor McGonagall pulled him from his seat and pushed him out of the great hall, leaving the students to murmur about what had just happened.

Once the coast was clear, Anon removed his hand from Merula's mouth and signaled for her to keep quiet as he snuck out from under the table. What in the hell had just happened?

As soon as Merula saw Barton covered in his own breakfast, Anon reached out and slapped a small piece of paper to the back of her hand before disappearing under the table. Before she could rip it off, he pulled her underneath with him by her legs, causing her to hit her head fairly hard on the bench, and covered her mouth to keep her from shouting out in pain.

She tried to resist and struggle free from his grasp, but once she heard McGonagall say that no one was there, she stopped. It was pretty obvious to anyone that two students were hiding under the table, it's kind of a hard thing to miss. But no one said anything, and before she knew it, food was flying across the room and Lewis was being sent to the headmasters.

Merula wiped the tears from her eyes as she crawled out from under the table after Anon, keeping quiet for the time being. She followed him out of the great hall and in to an empty corridor before coming to a stop. He grabbed her hand and peeled off the piece of paper he had stuck on it, revealing a small circle of runes in black ink on the back of her hand that slowly faded in to her skin.

"What the hell just happened?!" She spat with a glare.

"That," Anon said, as he removed a similar paper from his own hand. "Was an invisibility OTU."

"A what?"

"An OTU. One Time Use. They're paper-based spells I've come up with. Brilliant, aren't they? Also have multi-use ones, too, but that's besides the point."

Anon hastily began walking back towards the common room, with Merula in tow. "Since we're probably going to be summoned to Dumbledore's office in a bit, let's get one thing clear. We've been in the library doing our charms homework for Professor Flitwick. We lost track of time and couldn't eat breakfast. We rushed back to the dorms to get our things, and you didn't see me again until you got to class. Understood?"

Merula gave him a dumbfounded look as he pushed through the door in to the common room. A few students casually looked over to see who had come in, but didn't pay much attention to the pair. Before she could say anything, he was already off down the hall towards his room.

She had no choice but to go along with his stupid plan. She let out a frustrated grumble and went to her room to get her things. That damned mudblood was nothing but trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

Anon was right. Halfway through potions class, Professor McGonagall showed up and asked to see Merula, Anon, and Professor Snape in the corridor. Waiting for them was Professor Dumbledore, with Lewis skulking behind him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape asked.

"Severus, it has come to my attention that young Mister Barton believes that he is the victim of a conspiracy." Dumbledore said, as he pushed Lewis out from behind him. "He believes that Mister Suomy and Miss Snyde are conspiring against him, for reasons unknown. He tells me that not only did he and Miss Snyde attempt an illegal duel in the courtyard last night, but now with the aid of Mister Suomy, Miss Snyde is trying to make their peers question his sanity. What say you, Severus?"

Snape gave the two a cold look before turning to Dumbledore. "I am aware of Barton's accusations against Snyde and Suomy. I did indeed find him stunned in the courtyard last night, claiming that Snyde had something to do with it. However, upon further investigation, I discovered that neither Miss Snyde nor Mister Suomy had anything to do with that event."

"How so?"

"The two were together last night in the Slytherin dorms, practicing their...charms work."

"That's not true Professor! I swear!"

"Silence!" Snape hissed angrily, causing Lewis to sink back against Dumbledore's robes. "You saw the evidence for yourself, Barton."

"What evidence, Professor?" McGonagall asked, finally speaking up.

Snape tugged on his jacket as he cleared his throat. "With the use of Prior Incantato, I checked both of their wands. In Suomy's case, his staff."

Lewis was quite distraught now. "Then how do you explain what happened this morning during breakfast?!"

Snape gave a quizzical look. "Pardon?"

McGonagall spoke up once more. "During breakfast today, someone jinxed Mister Barton's food and attacked him with it. He claims it was Miss Snyde and Mister Suomy, however I saw neither of them."

"But it's true, Professors! Ask Rowan! Ask anyone! They were there!" Lewis pleaded. "I'm not crazy! And I'm not making this up! They must have, I don't know, disapparated or something! Used an invisibility cloak! But I swear, I'm not lying!"

"Calm down now, Mister Barton." Dumbledore said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "No one is calling you a liar."

"Actually, sir..." Anon said, raising his hand slightly.

The group turned to him.

"Merula and I, well we were both in the Library this morning. We never went to the great hall to eat."

"LIAR!" Lewis screamed, before Dumbledore raised a hand to stop him.

"And you have proof of this encounter?"

"You can ask Madam Pince. She allowed me to borrow several books this morning, along with Merula. I have them in my bags, if you'd like to take a look. And if I may," Anon said, turning to Lewis. "I'm not sure what has happened with you recently, but Merula and I had nothing to do with it. I'm very sorry to hear you've had a hard time, and while you may think that the two of us have some sort of grudge against you or something, though I can't speak for Merula, I assure you that that is not the case with myself. The quarrels you had with me three years ago, or rather - last year, I've long since got over. I'd be more than happy to offer any assistance I can in finding whoever the culprit is, though."

Lewis was trembling in rage, but before he could do anything, Dumbledore walked over to Anon and led him off by the shoulder. "A word, if I may?"

Once they were out of earshot from the group, Dumbledore turned to Anon. "Are you sure you had nothing to do with this?"

"Positive, sir."

"And the girl?"

"...What one, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Both."

"Nothing, sir. Besides, if I felt even the least bit threatened, you know I'd come to you first, Professor. She's no harm to anyone."

Dumbledore stared at Anon's chest for several moments before nodding his head in agreement. "Very well."

The pair returned to the group.

"Severus, Minerva. I am inclined to believe that Mister Suomy and Miss Snyde did not harm Mister Barton." Lewis was about to retort, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him. "However, that does not mean that someone isn't harassing him. Therefore, until the culprit is found, I would insist that the three of you not be in a position that could lead to yet another misunderstanding. I would suggest that the two of you stay away from young Mister Barton to the best of your abilities. And as yet another precaution, I will request that the staff keep an eye on you three. Agreed?"

Anon nodded in agreement, followed by Merula. Lewis clenched his fists, but finally agreed as well.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Now then, if you'll excuse me. I have some business to attend to." Dumbledore gave them a warm smile, and headed off with McGonagall following closely behind.

Snape muttered something under his breath before shoving the three of them back in to the classroom. "Snyde, grab your things."

"Sir?"

"You heard the headmaster. To avoid any more... misunderstandings, you'll be joining Suomy's table from now on. I'll not have any more exploding cauldrons due to your petty bickering. Haywood! Move your things to Barton's table. You'll be taking Snyde's seat."

Merula spat out several choice swears under her breath as the moved her things to the seat next to Anon's, shooting him a nasty glare in the process. "Don't get in my way, Suomy..."

Anon responded with an annoying smile that only worsened her mood.

After setting up her things, she continued brewing the potion that Snape had assigned them. And although she hated to admit it, it was a lot easier to focus without Barton and Khanna getting in her way constantly. She was also curious how Anon would finish his potion, since he supposedly never used magic; though she had already seen that wasn't the case. Would he use his staff? Or would he somehow cast magic without it again?

When his was ready to be completed, began scribbling something on a piece of parchment before tossing it in to the brew. She was shocked. Wouldn't the ink and paper interact with the potion and ruin it?

Anon seemed to have read her mind. "Don't worry, Snyde. It's perfectly safe."

After a few stirs, the potion turned a nice shade of green, and he began scooping the contents in to several vials. Merula did the same with hers shortly after. Once finished, they brought their potions up to Snape for inspection, and they had both received passing marks.

With nothing else to do for the remainder of class, Merula began reading through her textbook. After a while, Anon finally spoke up.

"Sorry. About earlier, I mean. It's not like I meant to turn this in to a whole ordeal, and I didn't mean to interrupt that weird way of flirting the two of you have going on."

"Flirting?! You can't be serious."

"You like him don't you? Barton, that is."

Merula let out a laugh. "As if. How could I like a stupid half blood whose brother went mental and nearly destroyed the school? The school is better off without him. If you would stop getting in my way, maybe I'd finally get around to ruining him myself."

"Uh-huh. Sure you would."

"What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know, you filthy mudblood, that I'm the best witch in hogwarts! I'd be more than happy to prove that to you myself."

Anon shook his head. "I believe you. You're a brilliant witch, for sure. Just also a massive bitch to boot."

Merula growled at him, which made him smile.

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's cute. After all I've been through, a bitchy witch is the least of my worries. Seeing you get mad at other people and pick fights is quite fun to watch."

"Cute?" She scoffed. "You must really have a death wish, Suomy."

Anon didn't respond. He just kept smiling as he flipped through his book. Him not trying to retaliate with some snarky comment made her feel a bit embarrassed.

"A-Anyways..." Merula said, clearing her throat. "How did you manage that earlier with the headmaster? About the library?"

"Because I really was there this morning." He said, and gave the book he was reading a slight wave. "But so was Filch."

"Oh. I see..."

Merula understood what he meant. The Librarian, Madam Pince, was rumored to be in a secret relationship with Filch. Whenever the two were in proximity of one another, they often became very distracted, which allowed for the students to get away with things they normally wouldn't be able to. Even if Dumbledore had gone to confirm Anon's story, it's highly likely that Pince would corroborate the events, even though Merula was never there to begin with. Pince would vaguely remember lending out the book to Anon, but probably nothing else.

For a mudblood, Anon was frustratingly clever. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to get to know him, just a little bit...


	4. Chapter 4

Merula yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Today was the first day of the winter holidays, and she had not wanted to get out of bed. One of the down sides of having your room underwater was that it got extremely cold, and her bed was very, very warm. But after failing to fall back asleep, she finally managed to drag herself out of bed, wrapped in her blankets, and quickly made her way to the common room. Cold floor and no proper socks made for a painful walk.

Merula wasn't the only one staying at Hogwarts this year, it seemed. She found Anon sitting on one of the couches in front of the fire, not noticing her until she jumped on to the couch opposite his and wrapped herself up in to a blanket ball.

"Moring." He said with a nod. "Not going home this year?"

She shook her head. "Gran went on holiday with some of her friends, so I stayed behind. Though if I knew you'd be here, maybe I would have gone home regardless."

"Must not have thought too hard on that one, then. Seeing as how I kind of live here year round on a count of my parents being mindfucked by magic and all, and the only way to un-fuck them is to torture them to the point of permanent brain damage." Anon replied bitterly before rolling up his right sleeve to his shoulder. He un-corked a sparkling, transparent potion that was sitting on the table in front of him. He poured a glob of the viscus liquid in to the palm of his left hand, and proceeded to rub it all over his right arm.

"What're you doin'?" Merula yawned.

"It's a moisturizer. My arm doesn't do so well with the cold, I guess. It feels super stiff and dry, so I brewed this up to help with it."

"Does it hurt?"

"What, the potion or the arm?"

"Both, I guess."

"Not really, no. It just gets uncomfortable, and I guess it itches sometimes, but other than that, it's fine. Why the sudden interest?"

Merula clicked her tongue at him. "Who says I'm interested? Idiot."

Anon could have pointed out the fact that she herself was the one who asked, but decided to leave her be. "I'm honestly surprised. We've been hanging out for like three months now, and this is the first time you've ever asked about it."

Merula let out a dry laugh. "Us? Hanging out? You must be out of your mind, Suomy. Why would a pure blooded witch like me hang out with a mudblood loser like you?"

Anon shrugged and gave his right shoulder a roll. "I dunno. What would you call it then? We eat together, though I guess we never really talk about anything outside of school work. And we sit next to each other in pretty much every class now, too."

"Psh. You're lucky I even tolerate your stench. And it's not like we have a choice about our seating arrangements. If SOMEONE hadn't gone and made Barton all paranoid, I'd be nowhere near you and you know it."

"Maybe," Anon laughed. "Maybe. But I'm also the only one willing to put up with your bitchy attitude all day. I'd say we're pretty decent friends."

"We are NOT friends, Suomy. You're my enemy and you always will be."

"Frenimies?"

Merula growled at him through her blankets. If she weren't so cold, she'd throw something at him.

"Anyways, I'm going to get something to eat from the kitchens. You kind of slept through breakfast, so you'll probably want to do the same if you're hungry. Or just wait until lunch, I guess."

Anon got up from the couch and grabbed the sweater next to him, pulling it over his head. "And don't worry, I won't bother you over the break if you really hate me that much. I've got things to do anyways."

"Like what?"

"I need materials and ingredients, and I plan on working on some spells and whatnot. Just boring stuff you'd never be interested in, I'm sure. But I did fancy going for a broom ride today, maybe visit Hogsmeade."

"Don't be an idiot. Second years aren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade. And last I checked, you didn't have a broom and aren't on the Quidditch team, so you weren't given one, either. So unless you're planning on stealing one, I don't think you'll have a very enjoyable flight."

"First off," Anon said as he put on a warm cloak over his sweater. "Students aren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade when school is active. Seeing as how we're on break, it shouldn't be an issue. Hell, it's apparently the only true wizarding community in the UK. If you want to stay cooped up in this place all break, be my guest. And secondly," Anon grabbed his staff that was propped up against the arm of the couch and gave it a tap against the cold dungeon floor. Merula's eyes widened as a bunch of small cracks formed on the bottom of the staff, exploding out in to a bundle of vines that made up the bristles of the broom.

"See? Not just a 'worthless' staff after all. Not that I ever thought it was, mind you."

Anon twirled the staff around and tapped the opposite end to the floor, and the bristles coalesced back together, making it whole again.

"Well, I'm outta here. Have fun doing...whatever it is you do."

And with that, Anon was gone from the common room, leaving Merula all alone. She sighed, and wrapped the blankets tighter around herself. A broom ride and a trip to Hogsmeade sounded really nice. Maybe he would have taken her along if she had asked...

Realizing her thoughts, Merula quickly shook them from her mind. Why would she want to hang out with a filthy mudblood like him? He was just a freak. A tall, stupid, one armed freak. She had better things to do with her time. Maybe she'd try and find one of those vaults that Barton got in to last year. Though come to think of it, she hadn't heard him go on about them ever since she and Anon had gotten in to that quarrel with him a few months back.

Merula let out yet another sigh and fell back on the couch. Searching for vaults was no fun when she didn't have Lewis to antagonize. And it's not like they had the power to bring her parents back...


	5. Chapter 5

To Merula's surprise, and with a mix of annoyance and disappointment, Anon had kept his word about leaving her alone during the break. He got up early, got in late, and had said nothing to her since the first day of the vacation. Since they were the only two Slytherin who had stayed behind that year, she had to find other ways to occupy herself. So for the past three days, she had been jinxing snowballs to launch at any student still in school, wandering around the halls, bullying the toilet ghost, and finishing the homework that some very annoying teachers had assigned.

It wasn't until Christmas Eve that she spoke with Anon again. She was sitting in the common room alone, late at night, staring at the silver and green covered tree in the corner of the room while trying not to fall asleep. It's not like she had expected to get much, if anything, but she still wanted to see what would show up this year when the house elves apparated the gifts.

With the gentle swooshing of the lake against the common room windows, and the soft crackle of the fire, it was no surprise Merula fell asleep despite wanting to stay awake. When Anon snuck in to the common room, it was nearly midnight. He saw Merula slumped over on the couch in a mess of blankets, and wasn't sure if he should just wake her or leave her as is.

He ultimately decided to wake her, and send her back to her room. He brushed her messy bangs from her face and gently tapped her cheek. "Merula, don't sleep out here."

Merula groaned and moved her face away from his hand. "Go away, Knob...Stupid elf..."

Not getting anywhere with his initial attempt, Anon began poking repeatedly at her cheek. This seemed to work better, as Merula smacked his hand away and finally opened her eyes. She gave him a few confused blinks before bursting out in to a scream. "W-w-w-what in the BLOODY HELL is that?!"

Wincing from her sudden scream, Anon looked over to see what she was pointing at. A pair of wooden legs was idly walking about behind him.

"Jesus, no need to scream. It's just a pair of enchanted legs..."

"And why the HELL would you have that?"

"I...made them? It's pretty obvious why."

Merula was at a loss for words. Just what in the hell was wrong with this guy?

"Well, anyways, I was just waking you up to tell you to go back to your room. I would have carried you, but I'd rather not have to deal with that stupid anti-boy trap. If you sleep out here like that, you'll wake up in a foul mood."

As Merula got up from the couch, trying to avoid the creepy legs as much as possible, she suddenly remembered about that freakish wooden body he had in his room. "Why the hell are you building a giant wooden doll?" She asked.

"Oh, so you do remember? Anyways, it's not for me. It's for someone else." Anon poked his staff at the pair of legs, making sure they wouldn't walk towards Merula, who was clearly uncomfortable.

"Why does anyone need a giant wooden doll?"

"Same reason why I need a wooden arm. Oh look, the presents."

Before Merula could put much thought in to what he had just said, she became distracted by the small mountain of boxes that had appeared under the tree.

"Well, aren't you going to open them?" Anon asked, once again keeping the legs from wandering too far.

"There's no way those are mine. You open them!"

"Me? Why would anyone be giving presents to me? My parents are obliviated, remember?"

"Yeah, and mine are in... Never mind. Gran clearly wouldn't have sent me that many gifts, there's no way."

"Well," Anon said, pointing his staff at one of the boxes and causing it to float over to them. "Looks like this one's yours."

Merula snatched the box from the air, and Anon continued to float them over. "And this one. This one. This one, too."

Before she knew it, she was trying to balance the tower of presents in her arms.

"Yep, all yours. Someone must like you, Snyde."

"And nothing for you?" She asked as she tried to peek around the side of her tower.

"Why would there be?"

"Anyways," Anon said as he walked past Merula, escorting the legs with his staff. "Happy Christmas, I guess."

"H-hey! Wait! A-AHHH!" Before she could stop him, she lost her balance and the tower of presents came falling down around her. When she looked up, he was gone.

With the pile of presents at her feet, she sat back down on the couch. No point in waiting to open them until the morning, she figured. She picked up one of the long rectangular boxes and checked the card. It did indeed have her name on it, and inside read, 'For Dates.'

Merula carefully unwrapped the present and opened the box. Inside, she found a folded up piece of grey fabric with a sheet of paper on top.

'Alula's Bewitching Outfits for Every Occasion - 4 of 4

An alluring, enchanted dress for any witch looking to impress her wizard on a special night out.

14 styles, one dress for all sizes.

Switch between dresses with the tap of a wand!'

Merula felt around for her wand as she read the note before realizing she had left it in her room. She let out an annoyed grumble and put the dress aside. She looked down at her other presents, and grabbed the other three of similar shape to her dress.

'For School'

'For Sleep'

'For Every Day Wear'

Inside, she found similar outfits made of the same grey material.

Damn, she really wished she had her wand to try these out. Alula's clothing lines were super popular amongst the girls, and also quite pricey. Beautiful designs that fit the wearer perfectly, and enchanted not only to change outfits but be resistant to dirt and stains as well. This was basically an entire wardrobe in just four boxes.

She was at a loss for words. The contents of those four boxes alone was enough to pay for two, maybe even three kids' worth of school supplies for the entire seven years spent at Hogwarts. That was a lot of Galleons spent on just her, and she had even more boxes to unwrap.

The next present that caught her eye was a long and slender cylindrical one. She unwrapped it to find a long tube containing a Cleansweep Six. A Cleansweep Six! This... This was leagues better than her grandma's old Cleansweep Three that he had been using.

The rest of the presents weren't so grandiose, but she enjoyed them nonetheless. A broom maintenance kit for her new ride, some socks and stockings, a scarf and a pair of mittens, a christmas card and a box of cookies hand-baked by the family house elf, Knob, various candies and chocolates, and some very dinky looking souvenirs from her grandma.

Merula did her best to carry everything back to her room without dropping anything, and with great difficulty. But she somehow managed and set all of her things on her bed before proceeding to stay up all night trying on her various outfits and indulging on all the treats she had gotten.

This was all way too good to be true, especially for someone like her.


	6. Chapter 6

Merula yawned loudly as she got up from her bed, kicking aside some candy wrappers on the floor. With her new pajamas, this was one of the most restful sleeps she had had in years. She wasn't sure exactly what time she went to bed, and wasn't really sure what time it was either, but it didn't matter. She grabbed her new clothes and her wand, and headed off towards the girl's bathroom to get ready for what was left of the day.

After a while, Merula made her way to the common room, drying her hair with a warm stream of air coming from the tip of her wand. Surprisingly, Anon was there as well. She hadn't really expected that, seeing as how absent he'd been the past few days.

"Hey," He said as he caught sight of her. "Seems like you slept well."

"Yeah, I did." She said as she took a seat on the empty sofa across from him. "Not that it's any of your business."

Anon dismissively shrugged off her retort and continued on about his business.

"What are you doing?" She asked, now noticing that he was writing on a long ribbon of paper that spilled off the edge of the table and in to a pile on the floor.

"This?" He said, dipping his quill in to a vial before continuing. "Remember that thing I stuck on your hand that one time when Barton went all flying plate on us? It's kind of like that. One of those paper spells, except this isn't just one spell."

"So? What's it do?"

Anon gave her a small smile. "Well, with any luck, this'll stop me from turning in to fine bloody mist when I tear a hole through the fabric of reality to get to a parallel universe."

"You...What?"

Everything he said clearly had flown over her head. "You remember that stupid cursed Rubik's cube that made me disappear?"

Merula shook her head. Of course she wouldn't. "The colored muggle cube that blew off my arm."

"Oh..." Realizing what he had meant clearly made her uncomfortable. "That."

"Yeah, that. Had a real nasty curse on it, though really it was just a very strong Evanesco meant for use on humans."

"The vanishing spell?"

"One and the same."

"But doesn't that just like, you know, turn an object in to nothing?"

"So they teach. But that's not really the case. It's dimensional magic, but I don't think people really give it much thought."

"Dimensional magic?"

"Yeah. You know, the same magic that lets people turn a broom closet in to a bedroom, or a tent in to a mansion. That sort of deal. But this obviously isn't the same as creating pocket dimensions or whatever. No, that spell sends an object to another place entirely. When you cast Evanesco on an object to vanish it, it doesn't turn in to nothingness. You literally send it to a different universe.

Look, I can see you clearly don't follow what I'm saying. Science isn't really that popular in the wizard world. And even as a muggle, this should be well beyond my understanding. But I'm sort of cheating the rules here, so we'll ignore that. Here, I'll try and make this simpler for you.

When I solved that cube, one second I was here and then the next it felt like every bit of me was being crushed and turned inside out. But as quickly as it started, it was over, and I wasn't here anymore. And by that I don't mean at Hogwarts, I mean here as in earth. Our planet. I wasn't even in our universe anymore, though I didn't learn that 'til later.

So that's what the vanishing spell does. It takes an object or entity from one place to another. To wizards, it looks like the object is just gone, and they can't see it being teleported anywhere else, so they assume it's turned to nothingness. That's why it's so popular to use to clean up messes and mistakes and get rid of things. There's quite a bit of complexity to the spell, which is why it's not taught early on. It's also why you don't see people using it on living things much, let alone a human. Most of the time when you use it on something living, if you mess up, you just end up sending part of it away and leave the rest behind. I heard that when we're supposed to learn it, we start with slugs and work our way up to kittens.

It's a shame, really. I quite like kittens. But anyways, if you don't outright kill the creature in the process of trying to vanish it, you aren't doing it any favors by successfully casting it. You're just sending it away. That's why I lost my arm. Someone put quite a bit of work in to that curse, but it still wasn't enough to fully vanish me. Given my age at the time, it's possible I could have made it through in once piece had I been younger, or might have just exploded outright had I been an adult."

"Well if it's so dangerous, why are you doing whatever it is you're doing that has to do with it?"

"Try saying that ten times fast." He joked. "But in all seriousness, I'm doing it to keep a promise I made. Used the same spell series to get home, but now I'm having to use it twice more and there's no telling what could happen. One to get there, one to get back. This really seems to be the only way to choose a destination, and only if you have an attachment to the location you want to go to. From what I understand, the stronger the attachment, the more accurate your results. It's why I'm 15, and you're like, 12. Wasn't attached enough."

"Wait, so you're leaving?"

Anon nodded.

Merula scoffed. "Do you really think the professors will just up and let you use that sort of magic and leave the school? Just like that?"

"Dumbledore already knows, and has already given permission."

Merula was at a loss for words. Anon was leaving, and the headmaster himself was the one letting him go? That didn't make sense. What was so important that he'd allow something like that to happen?

Before she could ask any more questions, Anon set down his quill. He had finally finished his long series of runic scribbles, and tore off the remainder of the blank paper. He grabbed his staff, which had been laying on the floor next to his feet, and gave it a tap against the floor. It's bottom exploded into the tail end of a broom, and he let it float in front of him. With a waive of his hand, the paper ribbon shot up from the table and began to rapidly spin itself around the broom, until the body was completely covered.

"Well, I guess this is it Merula. It's been fun hanging out with you these past few months, even if we really didn't do much together."

"W-Wait! You're leaving now?"

Anon nodded. "If you'd like to see me off, you can. It might be the last time you ever see me. Last time I was gone for three years, and only a year passed here. Maybe when I try and come back, a hundred years passes here with only a few days for me. Who knows. I really have no idea what I'm doing. But if this all goes according to plan, I should hopefully end up back here around the same time I left."

"You're bloody mental, you know that?" Merula said, clearly getting angry. Why was she getting angry? He was just a stupid mudblood whose done nothing but piss her off and cause her trouble. Why should she care if he goes on some stupid suicide mission to keep some sort of stupid promise?

Anon grabbed the broom that was floating in front of him, and stepped around the table, standing before Merula. He raised his hand and gently ruffled her hair before she smacked it away with a glare.

"Take care of yourself, Merula. Try not to get in to too much trouble, especially when it comes to Barton." Anon said, and gave her a warm smile. "Oh, and one more thing..."

He reached in to his jacket and pulled out large piece of folded paper.

"One of those dimensional spells, for your wardrobe." He explained. "Stick it on the front and tap it with your wand while holding it in place. Next time you open it, it should be a pretty secure place to store all those gifts I got you. Just a precaution, in case any of those girls try and steal your things. Your wardrobe will only open for you.

Anyways, let's get going, Mara. No time like the present."

Wait, what? Presents that he got her? And who the hell was Mara?

That question answered itself shortly after, as a figure dressed in a black robe silently walked out from the shadows behind her. Merula let out a frightened gasp and involuntarily sunk back in to the couch. It was a girl made of wood, just like a doll. She had long, raven black hair, and the same crimson eyes as Anon did. She glanced at Merula indifferently before following Anon out of the common room door, who turned to give her one final wave goodbye.

"Oh...Oh bloody hell!" she shouted as she got up from the couch, and ran back to her room. She quickly slipped on her boots and grabbed her new broom that was propped up against the wall next to her bed, and rushed out of the dungeons after him.

Merula ran up out in to the courtyard and jumped on her broom, hoping to spot him before it was too late. She had no idea why she was doing this, but she couldn't just let him leave. It didn't feel right.

She flew up well above the castle and scanned the area. Nothing. Not even tracks in the snow.

A few moments later, she heard a loud, distant crack from behind her, and jerked her broom around towards the direction of the sound. She scanned the area over the black lake, and saw a figure down by the shore. She shot off towards them without a second thought.

After a few moments of flight she reached her destination, only to find someone else entirely.

"P-Professor Dumbledore!" She exclaimed as she dismounted her broom and jogged over towards him, kicking up snow as she went.

"Ah, Miss Snyde. How are you this fine Christmas afternoon? If you're looking for Mister Suomy, I'm afraid you've just missed him." He said, straightening out his colorful patchwork cloak around his shoulders.

"Oh. I see..." She said, letting out a sigh.

"You seem a bit upset. I wasn't aware the two of you were that close?" he asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a few pats of consolation.

"Me? And that stupid mu-" She stopped herself from swearing in front of the headmaster and cleared her thoat. "M-Muggle? No. We weren't. He just told me he was going to go do something dangerous, and I was going to stop him."

"I see, I see." Dumbledore nodded. "Well, I'm afraid you're too late. He's successfully gone, it would seem."

Merula let out a noise of acknowledgement. "But Professor, he said you were aware of what he was doing. Why didn't you stop him?"

"It was not my place, child. That boy... He had something inside of himself. A dangerous creature, one that us alchemists have long since dismissed as myth.

Tell me, Miss Snyde. Professor Snape speaks highly of your skills with potions. With that in mind, how familiar are you with Alchemy?"

"Alchemy, sir? I'm nowhere near as familiar with it as you are. But I was hoping to take the course in sixth and seventh year, if possible."

"Well, as I'm sure you're aware, Alchemy is focused on transmutation and the creation of new substances from others. In addition to the benefits of transmutation, Alchemists also sought the secrets of life. Mostly for personal gain, of course. But long ago humans once sought to create artificial, perfect life using Alchemy. That life would be known as a Homunculus. There were many reasons to try and make one, though primarily it was for the purpose of extending one's own life.

But creating a Homunculus proved too difficult a task, even to the point where it was thought to be impossible. Alchemists turned their attention elsewhere, and not much has been done on the research or creation of the Homunculus since. But that boy... He somehow managed to find one."

"In the other world?"

"Ah, indeed. I see Mister Suomy shared some of his experiences with you, then?"

"A bit." She replied.

"Well, apparently that Homunculus he found offered him a deal. His life, in exchange for having his body be host to the Homunculus. According to the creature itself, it was considered a failed experiment and discarded on it's own world. I'm not sure why.

But Anon, having to choose between life and death, chose to accept the Homunculus. And it did indeed keep up it's end of the agreement. It provided him with life, and give back what he had lost in the accident. It also gave him more than just an arm. The creature was given the gift of knowledge by it's creators, and the ability to understand how magic works far beyond any of our comprehension. It shared that knowledge with Mister Suomy, and helped him survive that world.

But alas, the creature wasn't satisfied with just a host body. It wanted it's own, and to return to it's world. And Anon agreed to assist it on it's quest. It's why he left."

"Oh."

Dumbledore gave Merula a sympathetic smile and extended an arm towards the castle. "Would you care for some tea? We can talk more in my office, and I'll try to answer whatever questions you might have."

Merula nodded in agreement, and let the headmaster lead her up the hill. She couldn't say that she understood all that had just happened, but it made her sad. She really didn't want Anon to go, but she was too late. All she could do is hope that he'd come back.


	7. Chapter 7

"Again."

Anon shot Mara a dirty look and grumbled some choice swears under his breath before steadying himself. He held his right hand out, palm facing upwards, and waived his left hand in a circular motion above it. With a small 'pwoof', a tiny flame burst to life in the space between his hands.

Dumping all of his concentration in to keeping the flame alive, he tilted his hands sideways and spun them about the fire, trying to get it to grow. The tiny flame flickered brightly for a moment, seeming to grow in size ever so slightly before fizzling out in to a puff of black smoke.

Anon let out a frustrated groan and threw himself on the nearby bed, burying his face in the soft pillow to muffle his constant stream of swears. "This is stupid! I'd never have agreed to this had I known it'd pretty much take away my magic."

"Oh come on, it's not THAT bad." Mara said. "See? Look."

She snapped her fingers, and a large orb of flame appeared in the air. She gently scooped it with her hand, and began to roll it back and forth in a hypnotic movement before passing it to her free hand, repeating the process.

"Well now you're just being an asshole." Anon spat as threw his pillow at Mara, who easily dodged it, still juggling the orb of flame between her hands.

"It's all about the focus, An. You'll learn."

"Easy for you to say. You're the one with the library of knowledge in her head and the fancy schmansy new magic body. I still can't believe you gave up the one I made you so easily, by the way. You knew how much of a pain in the ass that was for me to make you. And also, what did I get out of this whole trip? A stupid new arm that looks like my real one, but sucks at magic."

"And you got to keep my old crystal in your chest."

Anon shot her another glare, which she returned with a smug smile as two new orbs of flame appeared in her hands, which she fluidly integrated in to her showy performance.

"Yeah, like it does me any good without you in it."

"We both know that's not true. You just lack focus."

"Enough with the damn focus!" He shouted angrily, slamming his fist against the headboard of the bed.

Mara sighed and let the three orbs vanish as she walked over to the bed, laying down next to Anon. "Look, I know it's hard. But you'll get there, I promise. Besides, when you master it, it'll be better than your old arm."

Anon rolled over and gave her a hug, burying his head in to her chest. "I know. You've never lied to me before. I just... I hate that I have to leave you soon. I'd feel better if I were actually able to use my magic properly, like you've taught."

"I know, Annie, I know." She said as she gently ran her fingers through his messy hair. "But you'll be fine."

Anon didn't reply for quite some time. He was a mix of emotions, and couldn't properly put how he felt in to words. But words weren't needed between the two. They could still sense each other's feelings, even if she wasn't trapped inside the crystal embedded in the middle of his chest.

"I wish everyone here was like you, Mar. Your world is full of a bunch of gits, you know that? One minute they're thanking me for bringing you home, the next it's all 'Oh we rarely ever get a chance to research a lesser species in person! Let's run tests on you for a month and then kick you out of our universe because fuck you!'" Anon sighed again. "I mean, yeah they fixed us both up nice and proper, but you've clearly got the better end of the bargain here. You get to go explore the multiverse, and I get to go back to earth with barely any magic. And it's not like I can just up and buy a wand and go about my business like everyone else. Not anymore."

Mara laughed lightly in response. "Wands are stupid anyways. You've got my crystal, and you've still got that horned serpent shard in your arm, too. You can still see the formation of magic, you can manipulate it, you know how it works. It's a lot more than any other human can say for themselves. Besides, even if you can't really use that staff of yours for proper magic, it at least still has it's attachment to you and is one hell of a broom. Plus you can still imbue the essence of magic in to things, and cast your paper spells."

"But it's no spaceship that lets me travel the stars, and we both know I can't be an amazing wizard if I'm constantly having to apply paper magic to everything."

Before Mara could speak, there was a knock at the door. Without waiting for a response, it slid open to one side, and a man wearing a black uniform walked in to the room.

"It's time."

Mara let out a sound of acknowledgement and gently pulled herself away from Anon, who got up after her. He grabbed his staff from the wall beside his bed, and took one last look around the small room he had been staying in. He really wouldn't miss it much, save for the holographic broadcaster that was mounted to the wall. It'd be nice if Earth had those one day, but he was doubtful. It was technology built by a society that learned to harness magic via artificial means. Damned Technomancers.

As he stepped out of the room, Mara grabbed his hand and the two followed after their escort. She wasn't showing it, but he knew she was just as upset as he was about having to part ways. She was only trying to be strong for his sake.

"You can still come with me, you know." He whispered quietly, tightening his grip on her hand.

Mara shook her head. "We're not having this discussion again. I belong here, with my own kind. It's... It's my home."

Anon yanked his hand free of hers, feeling a twinge of sadness from her before forcefully blocking off their link. At least he could manage that much with that stupid focus. "And my home is with you, wherever you are. Even if you don't feel the same."

Anon quickened his pace, following their escort on to a lift that took them out of the building and on to the roof. Without saying a word, he walked out in to the clearing and tapped his staff, transforming it once again in to a broom. He mounted it, and kicked off in to the air. He hovered a few moments, looking back at Mara, hoping she'd say something or change her mind, but she just looked away dejectedly.

Anon clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on his broom before launching off in to the distance, trying to suppress the awful feelings in his chest and focus on what was about to happen.

He closed his eyes, and focused what little magic he could muster in to the wrappings on his broom. He could feel the spells starting to activate, encapsulating him in a magical bubble around his broom and boosting him forward even faster.

Focus.

Think of your destination. Remember it. Feel it. Find your attachment.

Images of Hogwarts flashed through his mind. He remembered his parents, his old home. He remembered the time his dad took him to the amusement park, and his old muggle school. He even focused on his memories of Merula, too. Those ones were better to focus on. Less painful. Easier to gather.

His broom began to vibrate violently as the universe itself began to rip apart around him, followed by a deafening crack.

For a brief moment, everything was calm. He could no longer feel himself being pulled forward in to the void. But only for that moment.

Another loud crack, and he lurched forward on his broom, fighting against the wave of disorientation and his broom shaking violently once more.

Anon opened his eyes, blinking repeatedly against the blinding brightness and pulled his broom up sharply to slow his rapid descent. Even with his shielding and breaking spells, this wasn't going to be pleasant. At least he was back in one piece.


	8. Chapter 8

"Merula, I don't see why you're letting THAT idiot tag along with us. Especially after last year? He's lucky I refuse to cast the Cruciatus curse on those who serve the Dark Lord."

Merula rolled her eyes at Ismelda, ignoring her complaints about Barnaby, who was following behind them sheepishly. It was true that Barnaby had decided to befriend Barton last year and turn on the two girls, but Barnaby was a massive idiot. He really had no will ill against the two, and eventually found out that Barton and his crew weren't that different from Merula's, except she wasn't forcing him to go on stupid life threatening adventures. It also helped that he did fancy Ismelda quite a bit, too.

The group of three trodded up the snow covered hill on their way back to the castle, having just finished yet another Care for Magical Creatures lesson on the care and maintenance of Unicorns. Even during winter, they were forced to be outside taking this stupid class. Merula was certain the only reason why this class existed was so the school had free child labor to care for an overabundance of beasts in the forest.

As they continued up the hill, a blur of white flew past Merula's head and smacked Barnaby right in the face. He shook the snow off of himself, and looked around with a stupid expression. Merula looked to see who had tossed it, and saw two snickering faces peeking out from behind a large mound of snow.

"SNOWBALL FIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!" Lewis shouted, and tossed another volley of snow their way.

"Oh bloody-!" Merula quickly pulled out her wand and cast a shielding spell in front of herself as Ismelda ducked behind her, and several balls of snow exploded in front of it.

Once Barnaby realized who was tossing snow at him, he cheerfully ran towards the other two boys, chucking snow as he went. Merula and Ismelda were not as enthusiastic, and did their best to keep out of dodge. Rowan refused to take the hint, and continued to chuck snow at the barrier in front of the two girls, keeping them pinned down.

"Augh! Those idiot boys! Let's see how they like a rock to the face!" Ismelda kicked the snow around her out of the way, exposing the ground below. She pointed her wand at the ground, and little balls of frozen dirt flew up in to the air and shot at the boy's snow barrier.

Seeing the barrage coming from Ismelda, the two boys retreated back down behind their barrier and seemed to cast their own Protego spells, as the balls suddenly started to explode on impact rather than sink in to the mound. A few moments later, a chain of snow erupted from behind it and launched at Merula's shield.

"Oi you gits, leave me out of this!" She shouted, and tried her best to fall back further down the hill. There was a large stone wall that she could hide behind at the bottom of the hill, and she could take another route back to the castle from there. But with Ismelda constantly tugging at her robes from behind, this made the process difficult.

Before the two girls could make it down the hill, there was a loud explosion, which stunned even the boys. The five students stopped what they were doing and turned to the source of the noise.

A large ball of fire suddenly appeared in the sky above the black lake, and was headed straight for the castle at incredible speeds. Every few moments, the ball would erupt in to an even brighter flame with a loud crack, then die back down, until it was nothing more than a brightly glowing egg shaped object.

Those explosions seemed to have slowed it down quite a bit, and it was no longer aimed to hit the castle, instead...

"R-RUUUUUUUN!" Merula screamed, and the five kids bolted off in different directions.

Moments later, the object slammed directly in to Lewis and Rowan's snow mound, leaving a smoldering crater behind as it bounced further up the hill and directly in to the castle wall.

Merula cautiously got up from the ground, having fallen down in her scramble to dodge whatever that thing was, and looked around. She dusted the snow off her robes, and saw Rowan and Lewis peek out from behind the stone wall at the base of the hill. Ismelda was peeking out from behind Barnaby, holding on to his cloak tightly.

"What in the hell was that?!" Lewis shouted as he and Rowan ran back up the hill to join the other three.

"I...I don't know." Merula said, wand held out in front of her. The hole in the castle wall where the object had collided was covered with a thick white smoke, and the five of them slowly made their way up the hill to see what in the world had just happened.


	9. Chapter 9

Anon was in a daze. His vision was blurred and doubled, and all he could hear was a loud ringing in his ears.

His shielding spell wasn't able to hold up properly after he used up the last of his breaking spells, and wasn't able to reinforce his shielding due to his lack of proper magic. It held up against the first impact, but once he bounced in to the wall, it exploded with a loud bang. The explosion was enough to blow quite a crater in to the wall, and due to the previous impact he was sent sideways first in to it at full speed.

Anon tried to push himself up out of the rubble and debris, but was stopped by a sharp stabbing pain in his chest and arm that sent him falling right back in to the rubble. He let out a slew of swears between his gasps for breath, and felt something warm and sticky to the touch. Blood. Not good.

Anon tried to keep himself calm. Panic wasn't good for him right now. He needed to slow his breathing and relax. He couldn't move his left arm very well, but his new right one was fine. Being unable to see through the smoke, he tried to summon his staff that he had lost hold of. It was the only thing he seemed to be good at doing, though Mara said it had to do with the other half of his old wand core being a part of the staff and it's connection to the remaining bit still stuck in his newly fixed arm.

Sure enough, a few moments later it flew in to his hand and seemed to be in one piece. Anon braced himself for another wave of pain, and used the staff to slowly help push him up on to his feet. He got up, and put his weight on the staff to keep from falling back down. His intense pain was also mixed with severe dizziness and disorientation, and he couldn't help but to cough up a dark red mess in to the snow in front of him.

He wasn't sure how he knew the specifics, but he had a concussion along with a fracture in the skill, his left arm was dislocated and broken in three places, he had broken several ribs, one of which had punctured his left lung, and he had massive internal bleeding. At least he was at Hogwarts, because all he needed to do was get to whoever the head nurse was now, and they'd sort him out with magic. But the problem was getting there. Anon steadied himself once more, and prepared to start walking towards the castle.

He made it three whole steps before nearly falling flat on his face in to the snow, but his trusty staff was there to catch him, switching back in to a broom and keeping him from falling further. He grasped it tightly with his good arm, and it began dragging him forward through the snow towards something in the distance.


	10. Chapter 10

"Mnh..."

Anon slowly opened his eyes as he stirred from his sleep, and was met with an unfamiliar ceiling. He let out an uncomfortable groan as he sat up; his body was still very sore and stiff, leading him to the conclusion that he must have been asleep for quite some time. He scanned the room as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and determined he must be in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He was in one of the far corners of the room, and seemed to be the only occupant.

'How long was I out for, Mar?'

'...'

'Oh, right...'

He couldn't feel the warmth of the Homunculus in his chest anymore, only a sinking emptiness. It was like a vital part of himself was missing, and it made him sick. It wasn't like how it was with his artificial arm, where you know something is off but only if you focus on that feeling lurking in the depths of your awareness. No, this feeling... He was empty, alone, and scared. He was missing something that shouldn't be gone, and he was in a constant state of unease, to the point of panic.

He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them tightly, trying to stop himself from trembling as he held back his tears. Without feeling Mara's comfort, it was as if every single bad memory he had was rushing at him like water from a broken dam. It was hard for him to breathe, and he was being swallowed in to the darkness...

A hand forcefully lifted up Anon's chin, and a potion was shoved in to his mouth. "Drink."

His shortness of breath and being forced to drink the potion caused Anon to cough violently and spit it back up, but he could slowly feel himself calming down. Realizing what the potion was, he took it and willingly gulped the rest of it down.

"Better?"

Anon nodded, and finally turned his attention to the old wizard standing over his bed. Professor Dumbledore had pulled out a handkerchief from some hidden pocket, and was dabbing up the mess Anon had made on the sleeve of his robe.

"Thanks... Sorry..."

"It's quite alright, child. I'm just glad to see you're back with us. You had us deeply concerned, you know. It took quite a deal of effort to stop Madam Pomfrey from shipping you off to St. Mungo's, yet you seem to have made a miraculous recovery."

Oh, right. It was coming back to him now. His shielding spell had failed and sent him right in to the side of the castle wall. Anon ran his hand over his left arm. He could sense where the bones had been mended all over his body.

"How long...?"

"Have you been asleep? Or have you been gone?" Dumbledore asked, seeming to have picked up on his intentions as he took a seat at the foot of the bed. "If it's the former you're referring to, a week. The latter, two years."

Anon remained silent. He had intended to arrive back shortly after he had left. Stupid magic...

"But it seems you did indeed succeed on your mission. We were only just recently able to determine that the Homunculus had truly gone from your body. Up until yesterday morning, we were unable to use any form of magic or potion on you, and were left solely on visual diagnosis to determine your condition."

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't follow."

Dumbledore gave an understanding nod. "Miss Snyde and her friends had witnessed your return, and brought you here in dire condition. Madam Pomfrey had tried to stabilize you, but all attempts at magic failed. When she tried to give you potions instead, they would vanish upon touching your lips. I was summoned shortly after, and was met with the same results. However, your body seemed to be healing itself. Would you be able to explain why?"

Anon shook his head. "Not really, no. It's probably got something to do with however those bloody Technomancers 'fixed' my arm." He said bitterly.

"Technomancers?"

"That's what they called themselves. The ones that made Mara... The ones from the other world. They combined technology with magic, hence the name."

"I see. And how exactly did they restore your arm? By all current magic, the actual restoral of a lost limb is impossible without having it with you and is determined by the time and severity of the wound."

"This?" Anon said, raising his right arm. "This isn't a real arm. It's actually even worse than a real one. The one Mara made me was better. This looks real, feels real, acts real - all with the promise it's supposed to be better than my wooden one. It was supposed to be a 'reward' for returning Mara to them, but really I think they just wanted to experiment on me. The fact that Mara and I were able to have the symbiotic relationship that we had was of quite the interest to them.

The relationship we had together was supposedly impossible. The whole reason they had tried to hard to develop Homunculi was so they could become immortal. A magical body where you could store your soul inside of it; as long as the crystal wasn't destroyed, they could live forever. But they never got it to work, and apparently research in to that was halted. The Homunculi were still produced and refined, but also quite limited compared to Mara. I guess she was one of the first ones made, and they thought she was a failure.

But turns out, she was the thing they were looking for all along. Even though she was older, like thousands of years older, she was still compatible with their new bodies, and I was compatible with her and her crystal, and, well..."

Anon opened his hand up, and a tiny flame came to life in his palm.

"They injected me with something, some sort of magical tech, and it turned my arm from wood to flesh. But as you can see, this is about as much magic as I can muster through it." Anon closed his hand in to a fist, snuffing out the flame.

"Why not use your staff?" Dumbledore asked, and looked over to the staff propped up against the wall next to the bed.

Anon clicked his tongue. "Yeah, can't use that for much either. Or anything else, for that matter. Whatever they gave me messed up my ability to use magic and the ability to use magic focusing items like wands. So even if I wanted to, I really can't."

"Hmn..." Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"Mara said that this arm was better. It's the same sort of thing she's made out of now. She just says I need to practice with it, and was helping me until they forced me out."

"They forced you out?"

Anon nodded. "Yeah, apparently I was a 'lesser being' or something. They were more than happy to study me to see how my body would react with their tech, but after they had everything they needed they kicked me out. Mara stayed behind."

"I see, I see... Tell me, boy. How is it that they could fix your arm, but left the crystal?" Dumbledore asked, and nodded towards Anon's chest.

"It was a danger to remove, for one. Apparently it's like an organ to me now. But more than that, Mara wanted me to have it."

"For what purpose?"

"Knowledge. Its supposed to have a copy of all of the information she had been given when she was created stored inside of it as some sort of backup, but don't ask me how to use it. It just sort of happens. I don't mind it, either. It's useful, and as Mara told me, 'Knowledge is power'."

"That it is. But it's how we use that knowledge that matters."

Anon shrugged. "None of this knowledge has helped me with my lack of magic, though. I can understand how magic works, I can even see the ebb and flow of it, and could even manipulate it. But now..." Anon let out a heavy sigh. "I guess I'll have to leave the school, won't I Professor?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Of course not! I mean, even though I won't fit in here anymore, it's the closest thing I have to a home now that Mara's gone..."

Dumbledore reached over and patted Anon on the knee. "Come now, dear boy. There will always be a place for you here at Hogwarts, as long as you desire it."

Anon gave him a weak smile. "Thank you, sir. Though I don't know what I'll do from here on out."

"Why not join your fellow students in class on Monday? I'm sure some practical use and practice will be of great help to you in getting your magic back, if that Homunculus is to be believed.

I'll have all the necessary supplies for a fourth year student delivered to you before classes resume."

"Fourth year, sir?"

"Indeed. I assumed you'd much rather continue your education with familiar faces, though if you'd prefer to continue from your second year-"

"No, that'll be fine." Anon interrupted. "I'm sure if I have any issues, I can find someone to help me out."

Dumbledore gave him a warm smile and gave his knee one final squeeze before getting up from the foot of the bed. "Very good, Anon. Very good. Rest now. There's some sleeping draught in the cabinet on the opposite end of the room, should the need arise."

"Thank you, sir. For everything."

Dumbledore nodded with a smile before making his way out of the room, leaving Anon to his thoughts.

He let out a heavy sigh. School, huh? Well, it wasn't the worst thing in the world. He shouldn't have an issue with the subject matter from a theoretical and non practical point of view. But maybe Dumbledore was right. Practice might be good for him.

Anon let himself fall back down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows of the room flicker against it from the single lit torch on the wall near the entrance as he tried to fall back asleep. Hopefully things would work out for him...


	11. Chapter 11

Anon let out a heavy sigh as he stared bleakly at the broom closet door. He once again opened it, and was greeted with the same sight as the last two times; the closet was full of random cleaning tools and supplies, and this was most certainly NOT the room he had made for himself. No big comfy bed, no potions lab, no wardrobe or fireplace, no nothing. Just a regular old broom closet. It didn't even have his old bedroll he slept on in his first year after being kicked out of his dorm room.

He closed and reopened the door a few more times without success, and couldn't hold back his anger and frustration further. He swore loudly and gave the door a hard kick, which broke the lock on it and left it unable to be closed. A few sleepy heads popped out of various doors down the hall, all complaining for him to shut up. Anon angrily spat back a response in a language they couldn't understand, and picked up the stack of boxes containing his school supplies that had been delivered to the infirmary this morning, and headed back to the common room.

'Great. Just bloody fucking great. Mara's gone, my magic's gone to shit, and now I don't even have a fucking room to sleep in. What's the point of even trying anymore? I should just have Snape obliviate me and be shipped off to some stupid orphanage or something.'

Anon set his boxes down next to the table in the middle of the room and tossed his staff from his back before throwing himself down on one of the couches. He should have taken some calming draught before he snuck out of the hospital wing, maybe something to help him sleep, too. He was just so sick and tired of being cooped up in there all day, and just wanted his own bed back, but clearly there was no point in leaving. He'd have to ask Professor Snape for a new place to sleep in the morning, but he sure as hell wasn't going to go back to a broken closet or a room full of prats.

Anon slumped over on his side, and tried to make himself as comfortable as he could on the couch without a pillow or blanket, having only his school robes for warmth, but knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep regardless. And as he suspected, a chill quickly came over him. He grumbled angrily and snapped his fingers, causing a tiny flame to appear above his thumb. He looked down towards the other end of the room where the unlit fireplace was, and flicked the tiny ball of fire towards it.

To his surprise, it didn't just poof out as soon as it got too far away from him. Instead, it launched right in to the pile of kindling in the mouth of the fireplace and caused a fire to burst to life. At least something went right today, even if it'd take ages for the fire to warm up the common room.

Anon reached in to one of his enchanted pockets in his robe, at least those still worked, and fished around for a moment before finding what he was looking for. It was a small grey case no bigger than a tea biscut, that he flipped open to reveal several smaller devices inside. He took a tiny object from within and stuck it behind his ear before closing the case and putting it back in his pocket.

These were some nifty little devices. Mara had swiped them from some guy a few weeks back when they had just gotten back to her homeworld. They were music players, but instead of needing loud, bulky speakers or annoying headphones or cassette tapes, these had countless songs from countless times, worlds, and universes. They even had songs from earth, though he wasn't sure how. And not just from the 80s and prior. He had found stuff from 10, 20, even 40 years from now. The list went on, but he hadn't bothered to search past that.

Using a screen that only he could see, thanks to the device somehow showing him things that weren't really there, and located what he was planning on listening to. Something called "Around the World," which had been one of Mara's favorites. It was catchy, he'd give it that, but the only problem is this song wasn't supposed to be made for another 12 or so years.

Well, whatever. Anon closed his eyes and stretched out on the couch. He'd just deal with everything else in the morning...


	12. Chapter 12

The door to the Slytherin common room creaked open, and two students quickly ducked inside.

"Damn you Barton! You almost got us caught!" Merula shoved Lewis playfully and held back her muffled laughter.

"We were fine! Filch clearly couldn't see us under this cloak!"

"Oh piss off! That rag couldn't hide us at all! Ms. Norris clearly saw us, and Filch couldn't because it was dark! I don't even know why he'd confiscate this stupid cloak if it doesn't even work."

"Well at least we got a pretty good haul, right?" Lewis said as he folded up a very large and slightly opaque cloak in his arms.

"Good haul?" Merula scoffed. "All we got was that shitty rag, a joke parchment that insults people, some fireworks, and some very questionable candy..."

"But it was fun, right? Jeez, if you were like this all the time people would like you a lot more, you know."

"Oh shut up, you!"

Merula tried to shove him again, but he dodged her and ran off towards the entrance of the boy's dorms, and she cheerfully chased after him. "Why you-!"

She made one more lunge at him, but she ended up sslipping on something on the floor that caused her to fall forward in to his arms.

"Whoa, hey! Are you okay?" Lewis asked as he helped her back up.

"Ow... I'm fine, I just... Tripped..."

Merula's face went red as she closed her eyes, timidly standing on her toes to bring her face towards his.

Lewis's brain froze, and he didn't know how to respond to Merula's imminent kiss. If he didn't do something soon...

Snap.

A small ball of flame launched right between the two, causing Lewis to come back to his senses as he quickly pushed Merula away from him.

A pair of dimly lit crimson eyes glared at the two from one of the couches in the middle of the room. With a wave of his hand, the staff that Merula had slipped on floated over next to the boy.

"S-Suomy!" the two exclaimed in unison.

"Do you two mind getting a bloody room?" He spat. "I'd rather not watch you snog in the common room while I'm trying to get some sleep."

"T-This isn't what it looks like!" Lewis exclaimed, as he furthered himself away from Merula. "I was just... We were just-"

Anon pushed himself up from the couch and walked over to the two, stopping between them. "You. Bed. Now." He said as he shot Merula an intimidating glare.

Before she could stammer out a retort, he grabbed Lewis by the arm and forcefully dragged him down the hallway of the boy's dorms. He brought him to his room, and shoved him inside, shutting the door behind them.

"Ow, you prick! What was that for?" Lewis asked, as he rubbed his arm.

"What are you playing at, Barton?"

"What the hell do you mean, 'What am I playing at?' She was coming on to me, dumbass! I don't even like her like that! It's not my fault if she's trying to throw herself at me."

"Bullshit. You did something to her, didn't you?"

"Bloody hell! Of course not! I just told you, I don't like her like-"

"Shut up." Anon growled. "I mean, you've done something TO her, in a magical sense. Don't think I can't tell."

"You're fucking mental, you know that? Maybe that blow to your head made you an even bigger tosser than you were before!"

The two's argument had caused some of the other boys in the room to wake up.

"Lewis? What's going on?" Rowan asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "And what's he doing here?"

"Shut up, Khanna. You probably have as much to do with this as he does."

"Fuck off, Suomy! Leave him alone!" Lewis shouted, and gave him a hard shove back against the door.

Anon steadied himself as Lewis tried to pull out his wand, but before he had a chance, he was met with a hard punch to the face that sent him falling to the floor. The other boys had now pulled out their wands and had them pointing at Anon, who was glaring down at Lewis.

"I'm only going to say this once. I'm on to you, Barton. Stay the hell away from her."

Anon gave the boys one final glare as Lewis got up off the floor, and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Something was most certainly off. He could tell the moment he laid eyes on Merula. He couldn't quite tell what, but there was something wrong with her aura. Everyone at the school had one, a sort of light cloud of magic that surrounded them, and Anon could see it if he focused hard enough. One of the benefits of the crystal in his chest. Merula's wasn't how he had remembered it. It just felt wrong, and he was going to find out why.


	13. Chapter 13

"Professor."

Snape let out a heavy sigh as he folded down his morning copy of the Daily Prophet, staring up at the student before him.

"What do you want, Suomy?"

"I need a new room."

Snape rolled his eyes. "You have a room, Suomy. And a broom closet, if memory serves."

"I know, sir. But I was forced out of my room in the first year, and I can't sleep in the broom closet anymore."

"Well then, you're out of luck." Snape said, snapping his paper back up in front of his face. "Now please, go ruin literally anyone elses breakfast."

Anon refused to leave. "I want room 17, sir."

"Room 17 has a leak, and has been deemed unsuitable for student living at the current time, Suomy."

"And a broom closet is considered suitable? I'm sorry sir, but I don't care if room 17 leaks. It's better than the nothing I have right now."

Snape glared at him from over the top of his paper. "Fine." He growled. "But the leak is your problem, not mine. You will not come to me further regarding this issue."

Anon nodded in agreement. "Understood. Thank you, Professor."

Anon left Snape to his breakfast, and headed off the raised platform at the front of the Great Hall. At least that was one problem solved, even if the room was leaking. Truth be told, he had already put his things in the room earlier this morning. The leak wasn't that bad, the side walls near the large glass windows were wet with water, and there was a large puddle in the middle of the room, but it wasn't anything he couldn't fix - with the proper materials of course. He grabbed an apple off one of the nearby tables, and made his way out of the hall.

Today was supposed to be Herbology, Study of Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. He was honestly surprised when he had reviewed his schedule, because it seemed like he had a lot of free slots. He was set to take Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology, along with the aforementioned two classes he had today. His core classes seemed to mostly be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

As soon as he had gone down the stairs to the dungeons, he saw a familiar face headed towards him with an angry scowl and puffed out cheeks.

"Damn you, Suomy! I can't believe you!"

"Morning to you too, Merula." He said sarcastically.

"How could you punch him?! Seriously? What in the bloody hell made you go and do that?!"

Anon sighed. "You mean Barton?"

"Yes, I mean Barton! Who else would I mean? Do you go around making a habit of punching people to the point where you need me to tell who exactly you've punched?"

"Are you not even going to ask WHY I punched him?"

"What does it bloody matter? Now he's pissed off at me because of it!"

"He's doing something to you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, he's bloody fucking pissed at me and is avoiding me now!"

"Good."

"Good? GOOD?! How is that good you stupid idiot?"

Merula looked around for a brief moment before grabbing Anon by the arm violently and pulling him down a dark corridor.

"Do you have any idea how long it's taken for me to get on good terms with him? Merlin's bloody fucking beard, I can't believe you!"

She let out a grumble and ruffled her hair in frustration with her hands.

"You like him, don't you?"

"You don't bloody say?"

"...Even though he's charmed you or drugged you or... I don't know. He's done something to you. That's why I hit him."

Merula's angry expression was replaced with a dumbfounded stare.

"...Are you mental?"

Anon rolled his eyes. "No, I'm not. And before you say it, that crash didn't give me brain damage. I could tell the moment I saw you that something was off. Getting a better look at you..." He narrowed his eyes and grabbed her by the chin, pulling her head up. "...Yeah, this isn't good. There's 100% something wrong with you and I have no idea what."

Merula smacked his hand away and backed up. "No, there's something wrong with you, you twat! You've been gone for two years, what the hell do you know?! I can't believe I was ever friends with you. Just...Just leave us alone." She spun around on her heels and tried to storm off, but was stopped by Anon grabbing her hand tightly.

Merula tried to pull herself free, but realizing she couldn't, she grabbed her wand with her free hand and pointed it right at Anon's face. "Let go of me. Now!"

"Please, 'Ru. Just wait. Maybe... Maybe you're right. Maybe something is wrong with me. Do you have any idea how long I've been gone in my time?" Anon asked, letting go of her hand. "I was gone a month. A whole month. And what do I have to show for it? A stupid arm and an empty vessel in my chest. Those fucks treated me like I was some sort of guinea pig. They "fixed" my arm, left me unable to use but a sliver of magic, and then to make everything worse? The person I cared for most in the world, the only family I had left... She left me. She let them send me back."

Anon grimaced. He could feel himself going back to that dark place he had been hiding from using a steady stream of calming draughts while he was in the infirmary, but foolishly he hadn't taken any with him before he left. "I don't expect you to get it, Merula. No one would, not unless they've literally shared their body, mind, and soul with someone else.

Don't ask me why I came back. I don't know. It's not like I had family waiting for me, and you were really my only friend here, but it's not like you cared either. But seeing you last night, and knowing there's something wrong with you - and make no mistake, there most certainly is... After everything that happened, I just wanted the one person I had left to be okay, and I couldn't even do that right.

Now you're mad at me, and now I have absolutely nothing. I should have just stayed out of your business, even if it means you snogging Barton in the middle of the night...

Whatever, Merula. I'll leave all of you alone, so have fun doing whatever you do with Barton."

Anon was about to turn and walk away, but was met with an extremely hard smack to the face that left him slightly dazed.

"You... How... How the hell could you think I didn't care that you left?" Merula bit her bottom lip, holding back tears. "You were like, the only real friend I had! You have no idea how upset I am at you for leaving me like that! Now I'm surrounded by a bunch of idiots, and you show up again after two years acting like an even bigger idiot! How can I not be mad at you? Do you know how worried I was when Madam Pomfrey, Snape, and even Dumbledore himself couldn't heal you?" Despite her efforts, tears began dripping from her eyes, leaving little streaks of makeup running down her face.

Anon didn't know what to say. This really wasn't the Merula he knew. "...So are you not going to tell me that you wish I had never come back? Or that maybe that crash killed me? Nothing about how the school was better off with one less mudblood reeking the place up?"

"No! Gods no! Why would I say something like that about you?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"No, what's wrong with you? The Merula I knew would have said those things even if she didn't mean it, not standing here crying in a corridor. So what changed? When did you lose your edge? Maybe I'm just being an idiot, but think about when you started to change, and think about why."

Anon pushed past her, leaving her staring at him with a look of mixed confusion, anger, and sadness. Just what the hell was that? She's nice to him, says she cares about him, and this is what happens?

What's worse is that he was right. She WOULD have said those things to him - to anyone, even. So what had changed?


	14. Chapter 14

"Do you accept, Professor?"

The Potions classroom was full of hushed whispers and a few loud complaints from some of the Slytherins as Anon stood defiantly in front of a very angry Snape.

"Very well, Suomy." He spat with an angry glare. "You have until class ends. Do use your time wisely, because these will be your last hours at this school. The rest of you, watch closely at this exercise in futility, and see what arrogance gets you. Begin."

Snape and Anon turned their backs to each other and set about their work. Anon ran over to the supply closet, and pulled out several flasks, phials, tubes, and instruments - some of which Merula had never seen or used before, and laid them out neatly next to his cauldron. Snape was already well on his way to brewing his potion, while Anon had only just begun filling his cauldron with water from the tap.

"...Do you really think he'll do it? Take away all of your house points?" Penny whispered to Lewis.

"He bloody well not. Suomy is nothing but trouble, so seeing him expelled would make my day, but fuck me if he's taking our house points with him."

Merula bit her lip in frustration. This idiot... After the events of yesterday morning, he really had avoided her, and everyone else. And now today he shows up in class and picks a fight with the Professor, though to be fair, Snape was being a bit unreasonable. He had told Anon to get out of his classroom the moment he walked in, as second years had potions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and then immediately deducted 15 house points for "skipping class" the day before. And Anon being Anon, didn't let that go. He told him Dumbledore had given him permission to take fourth year classes, Snape said he didn't care and that Anon lacked the knowledge or experience to brew potions on a fourth year level, and then Anon challenged him to a brewing duel. He said that if he won, Snape would have to allow him to attend classes AND restore his house points, but if he lost he'd leave school and let Snape take all the house points from Slytherin for his incompetence.

And now here they were, in the middle of brewing two calming draughts. Snape had given him permission to use any tools or ingredients in the classroom, however he was not allowed to ask for help from any student, and could not leave the class for any reason, or else he'd forfeit. They were also not allowed to interfere with each other's potions, either.

"That stupid mudblood is ruining everything, Merula! He's not even brewing it properly, look! Bah, if only the Dark Lord were still here, people like him would long be dead."

Ismelda was lurking around behind her, occasionally commentating on the situation. But she had a point, Anon wasn't brewing it correctly. He was adding in a bunch of extra ingredients that shouldn't be there, was cutting, grinding, and squeezing all the wrong things, and getting all the measurements wrong. It was so very frustrating to watch.

"We're doomed, Lewis. Doomed. All those points... Gone..."

Merula looked over at Rowan, who Lewis was patting on the back in comfort as he sulked. He had a point, at this rate-

Several girls gasped in horror and a loud murmur once again flooded over the class. Even Merula couldn't help but to gasp in shock.

Anon had just deliberately sliced open the palm of his hand with a knife, and was letting his blood flow in to an empty ink bottle on his desk. Once full, he pulled a large handkerchief from his pocket and tied it around his hand to stop the bleeding, and kept going as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary. He began ripping a sheet of parchment in to squares, and then dipped a fresh quill in to his blood, using it for ink. That caused even more reaction from the onlookers.

Merula had a bad feeling about this, and Even Snape looked back with shock before quickly sorting himself. Using ones own blood in any sort of potion or magic? That was dark, dark stuff. He was a muggle though, maybe he just didn't understand the implications of what he was doing...

Anon tossed in one of the squares of parchment along with a few dashes of a white powder, and his potion let out a cloud of thick brown smoke. With a content smile, he took a nearby ladle and gave the potion several good stirs before letting it sit for a moment while he prepared another device. It was a tall object with a hand crank, and several long metal wires jutting out from it in a circle. He placed a long tube in to the metal ring at the end of each wire, and began spooning his potion in to the tubes.

"Oh dear..." Penny said upon seeing his potion, putting a voice to what everyone in the group was thinking. That was no calming draught... It looked more like a thick muddy mess.

"Yeah, we're doomed." Rowan whined, and sunk down on to his knees.

"I dunno, that looks pretty good to me." Barnaby said, before getting a smack on the arm from Ismelda.

"Does that LOOK like a proper calming draught to you?"

"When I brew it, yeah."

"You're hopeless, you know that? Absolutely hopeless."

After filling each tube a good 2/3rds of the way full of...whatever that was, Anon began to turn the hand crank rapidly, setting the device in to motion. The metal arms spun around quickly in a circular motion, and raised up slightly to have the tubes spinning at an angle. Anon grabbed another square of bloodied parchment from the table using his free hand and stuck it to the side of the device, which then continued spinning on it's own.

He then took his cauldron over to one of the nearby wash basins, and began washing out the remainder of his brew. After scrubbing it clean, he brought it back to the table and set it aside. He then began to prepare several large glass objects that connected to each other via a series of stoppers and tubes, sticking the remaining parchment and a few ingredients in to different portions of the contraption before sealing them with the tubed stoppers.

After a good 15 minutes of Slytherin agony and Hufflepuff snickering, the spinning device slowed to a halt. Anon got up from his seat and examined his work, muttering happily to himself upon seeing the results. The contents of the tubes didn't look like mud anymore, at least not fully. There was a brown substance at the bottom of the tube, and the top was filled with a clear liquid. Anon grabbed a small rubber tube nearby, and siphoned out the liquid from the top, emptying it in to one of the large glass jars. Once all the liquid was gone from the vials and only the brown mud remained at the bottom, he lit a small fire on one of the burners under the jar, and sealed it up to boil.

As the liquid heated up, Anon cleaned up the vials in the wash basin and let them dry nearby before removing the cloth wrapped around his hand. He washed off the blood, revealing a fully healed wound. This set off the crowd once again. First blood magic, then no cut wound? Something was seriously wrong with this guy.

"Oi, look at that!"

A random Hufflepuff from the crowd drew Merula's attention back to Anon's glass contraptions. The potion inside had started to evaporate, and was being sent through one of the rubber tubes and tiny droplets of liquid were dripping in to the next container. Upon hitting the paper and ingredients at the bottom, the liquid turned in to a deep purple smoke that traveled through another tube, continuing on through the device. In each chamber the smoke turned from gas to liquid, changing an array of colors along it's journey, and shrinking in quantity each time. Eventually, the potion made it's way to the final tube that was hoisted above an egg shaped phial, and dripped a light blue concoction in to it.

Snape had long since finished his potion, and had several bottles of a yellow liquid sitting behind him. He was watching Anon's process intently, awaiting his final result. After a few minutes, Anon's phial was full of the liquid, and he presented it to the Professor.

"Are you finished wasting my time, Suomy?"

"I'd hardly say it was a waste, but yes. It's done."

"And you are aware that, per your own request, we were to brew calming draught?"

"Indeed sir."

"So then what," Snape hissed at him with a sharp glare. "Is this?"

"A highly concentrated calming draught?"

Snape angrily snatched the phial from his hand, and uncorked the top, bringing it to his mouth.

"Sir, wait!" Anon stopped him, and Snape smirked.

"What's wrong, Suomy? Is this not a calming draught? Or is this travesty truly a waste of my time as well as your ticket out of this school?"

"Oh no sir, it very much is a calming draught. But like I said, it's highly concentrated. I'd say one drop to a glass of water? Otherwise I can't say what'd happen if you drank it straight."

Snape narrowed his eyes, but didn't drink the potion flat out. Instead he went over to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a clear drinking glass. With a tap of his wand, it filled with water, and he gingerly added one drop of potion to it.

"He's not really going to drink that, is he?" Lewis whispered. Merula had wondered the same thing. Why was Snape so willing to drink something he knew absolutely nothing about? That could very well be a phial full of poison...

Snape swirled the glass around a few times before swallowing the contents, causing several gasps as the students looked on in anticipation.

Merula found herself grasping at her ropes tightly. Please don't be poison... Damn it, Suomy! You better not get yourself expelled!

Snape blinked a few times, raised his eyebrow, and set his glass down. His usually stern expression was now quite neutral, which was a surprise to the entire class. He corked the phial, and handed it back to Anon before speaking.

"...I'll see you Friday, Suomy. Class dismissed."

There was a long moment of silence before the class burst out in to a rabble of confusion and relief. Several students shouted that he had cheated, or that the professor was drugged, but Snape ignored them and returned to his desk. Anon was smiling to himself as he pocketed the phial, gathered his things, and made his way towards the door. The crowd naturally parted to let him through, though Merula had a feeling it was mostly out of fear more than anything, and he left without saying a word.

What in the hell had just happened?


	15. Chapter 15

"Hit, hit, aaaand...Hit! Go on then, roll your saves. Not that it'll matter." Rowanna adjusted her glasses smugly with one hand and leaned back in her seat. Another easy win.

The Gryffindor boy sitting on the other end of the table picked up three sets of blank die in front of him and tossed them in to the tray. After they had settled, numbers appeared on the blank faces, and the boy slammed his hands down on the table in anger.

Rowanna laughed lightly to herself as the boy got up from the table and stormed off, pushing through the crowd.

"What, not even going to stay for the best part?" She shouted after him, but it was too late.

In the middle of the board before her, a small replica of herself pulled out her wand and aimed it at a replica of the boy who had just stormed out of the room. The figure waived it's wand around and a tiny spark shot out at the boy, causing him to fall to the ground, causing a few laughs from the crowd watching the board. But the little figure wasn't done. She aimed her wand at the fallen boy, and smashed him in to a nearby wall repeatedly until it fell on him, turning the figure in to a smush of brown clay. After a few moments, the rest of the objects on the board turned in to the same brown clay, flattening themselves out evenly across it.

Rowanna pulled out her wand and pointed it at a small leather pouch that was sitting opposite her, and it floated in to her open hand. "Another flawless victory. Would anyone else care to make a wager?"

"Oh come on, Ro! Not another round! You promised!"

"And YOU lost. It's not my fault you're a bad wizard."

The dumpy looking Hufflepuff next to her was about to retort, but a short and scrawny Ravenclaw pulled him away from her and through the crowd. "Don't worry, Eli! I have a cunning plan!"

"Oh sod off, Rick! Your 'cunning plan' is never bloody cunning! Let me guess, you want to challenge her to another round, again, and make her agree to stop using the board for gambling. And if we lose, you'll probably suggest she keep the damn thing! Tell me I'm wrong, Rick. Tell me. Make me believe you aren't the dumbest Ravenclaw to ever get sorted in to that snobfest."

The boy smiled apologetically and shrugged, and the Hufflepuff shook his head in disappointment.

"Oh come on, one of you lot must want something from me! Homework? Potions? A date? As long as the bet is worth my time, I'm game!

Nobody? Seriously? Not one single person here thinks they can beat me?! Come on! This game is based off of your skills as a witch or wizard in real life! There surely has to be SOMEBODY out there who thinks they can take me on."

Rowanna scanned the crowd for anyone looking to place a bet, but was met with shrugs, nervous stares, and sheepish grins. She let out a sigh. Well, she had earned a pretty penny today. Might as well stop while she was ahead. She pocketed the coin purse, and was about to grab her things from the floor next to her, when a hand raised up from behind the crowd.

"I'll have a go. But I've never played before, so you'll have to explain the rules."

"Oh that's fine, it's quite an easy ga-"

Rowanna's smirk dropped off her face when she saw who the crowd was parting for.

"...Suomy."

"Khanna. I don't believe we've actually met." He said, and extended his hand.

"No, but that idiot brother of mine has had quite a bit to say about you, as much as I try and keep out of the business of other houses."

Anon withdrew his hand, seeing that she wouldn't take it, and shrugged. "Well, he's a right git is what he is. It's also why I'm here. I need information, and I heard whispers around school that I might find you here."

"Hmph." Rowanna crossed her arms. "Well, I would, but I don't associate with dark wizards, or servants of You-Know-Who."

"Just because I'm a Slytherin doesn't make me evil, you know." Anon said, taking a seat opposite her.

"No, but using blood magic does. Your little stunt the other day has gotten around. I doubt there's a single student who doesn't know about it by now. Drugging a professor with dark magic... Honestly, what is your problem?"

Anon frowned. "And here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one of the lot..." He gave a small sigh before continuing. "Look, I'll level with you. Yes, I used blood in that potion, and no I didn't know it was considered a 'dark' practice. I'm muggle born, I'm sure you're aware. And if you actually take a look at how much time I've spent at Hogwarts, it's been like a year tops even though I'm in the 4th year. So give me a little leeway on knowing what is and isn't considered a wizard taboo, yeah?

How about this. If I win, you answer my questions. If you win... How about I tell you how to brew that 'evil' potion I made, minus the blood?"

Rowanna bit her bottom lip. It... It was tempting. There were rumors he had done something to the headmaster as well, since he wasn't flat out expelled after brewing the potion, and Snape had let him back to class as if it were nothing. If she had the means to make a potion like that, just think of how much she could sell it for!

"Okay, I'm in." She said, and scooted her chair closer to the table as the crowd murmured around them. "The game is simple enough. Here, watch."

Rowanna held her hand out above the tray on her side of the board, and a sphere of clay appeared beneath it. She placed her hand down on top, and a few moments later in the middle of the board, a small clay character popped up. Anon did the same, and a few moments later a clay version of himself was standing on the board as well.

"Now, we just let the stage set itself..."

The two figures each made their way to the end of the board next to their owner's trays as the middle turned in to a massive square slab of clay, with indications of paths in front of each character leading in to the mass.

"Oh fun, a labyrinth. So the goal of this is game is to defeat your opponent, but we'll need to find each other first. Your character stats are pulled from you as a person, so you'll be as strong in the game as you are in real life. There are of course items and such that can boost your skills beyond what you're capable of, but you need to find them first. You roll the blue die for movement, the three white ones are for damage and ability checks. If someone rolls dice and nothing happens, it usually means the other player needs to roll as well to determine the outcome. You have a list of spells and abilities that show up written on the tray in front of you, it'll show the mana or the action cost, and the number of die you roll.

Following so far? Good. Here, I'll go first."

Rowanna cleared her throat and grabbed the set of die from her tray.

"I examine the room to determine if there's a more viable path to enter in to the labyrinth. I'll roll an intellect check... And there. Passed.

'It appears that the path towards the left has had the most foot traffic, however the middle path has hardly seen any travel. The path to your right has several suspicious stains near the entrance that makes it seem like the path to avoid, but upon further inspection you see that it is actually a message written in a language you can't understand, with an arrow pointing down the dark corridor.'

Okay so I'll go down the right path, but before I do I'll cast a shield spell and an illumination orb. That'll take up the rest of my action points, so after she gets done moving it's your go."

Anon watched as her little clay figure walked down the right pathway, and the game board shifted on her end. The shift had moved her character towards the middle of her area once more and surrounded her with two walls of clay. Once it stopped moving, he looked down in to the tray in front of him that had his character stats.

Health: 1500

Mana: -

Action Points: 27

Strength: 53

Perception: 80

Endurance: 99

Charisma: 23

Intelligence: -

Agility: 61

Luck: -

Anon noticed a few of his stats were null, but he wasn't sure what that meant. Even though his mana bar was full, it had two dashes above it, as if he had none. Despite this, he had a very full list of abilities and spells that he could cast, all sorted alphabetically. He swiped the list up with his finger several times and it just kept going. Rowanna cleared her throat impatiently from the other side of the table.

"Sorry. So uh, I can cast anything on this list, right?"

"Yeah, if you've got the mana for it."

Anon looked at the list, which had stopped somewhere in the M section, and decided to pick a spell at random. "Uh, can I cast...'Magic Missile'?"

"If it's on the list."

"Yeah, it's on the list. I'll cast that then."

Rowanna scoffed at him. "Yeah, sure. Okay. But what are you going to cast it on? There aren't any enemies nearby."

"I'll cast it in to the darkness then."

Rowanna and the rest of the onlookers laughed at his remark. "Okay sure, you do that. Roll your dice, see what happens."

Anon shrugged and picked up the three blank white dice from the tray and tossed them down. After a moment, they showed up with two dashes on each face, and his clay figure didn't move.

"Um, is it supposed to do that?"

"No, but you're not supposed to be casting magic missile at nothing which is probably why nothing happened."

"Didn't you say you needed to roll if I didn't move?"

"Yeah, but we're not in combat, so I shouldn't need to."

"Well, let me see if I can walk down the hall then."

Anon rolled his movement die, and nothing happened. It was completely blank. "Okay yeah, I think either you need to roll, or this game is broken."

"If you broke it, you're paying for it!" Rowanna said with a glare before grabbing her three dice and tossing them in to the tray. To her surprise though, her roll resulted in numbers appearing on the dice, and Anon's little figure raising his arm towards the darkness.

'You decide to test out your abilities on the darkness ahead of you. You extend your arm out and focus your magical energy towards the darkness. A brilliant stream of sparks coalesce in to an orb in front of your palm, and burst forth in to the darkness, leaving a faint afterglow in it's wake.'

Anon's character did just as the text had said, and the orb blasted off down the hall and in to the clay. "Huh, guess it did work."

"Then why did I need to... Oh fuck."

'As you traverse down the hallway, your path illuminated by the orb above your head, you hear a rumbling from deep within the labyrinth. You ready your wand, sensing imminent danger.'

A few moments later, the wall next to her character exploded out in front of her as Anon's missile whizzed past her at a diagonal, shattering her shield and blasting through her arm before smashing through the wall and vanishing back in to the clay.

'Your shield spell was no match for the magical blast from the wall, and was broken immediately upon impact.

-Critical Hit-

The spell from the darkness has severed your arm from your body, exploding in to a brilliant red mist! You collapse to the floor in critical condition! You will continue to lose a percentage of your health every second unless you act fast.'

The little clay figure fell to the floor, dripping a fluidized sand all over the place before fully collapsing. Rowanna just stared at it in shock as if she herself had just been it in real life. "That's...That's not possible! That is NOT possible! You're cheating! You absolutely must be cheating!"

Rowanna shot up from her chair, practically throwing it aside, as she stomped over to Anon's seat.

"I KNEW IT!" She shouted. "Look! He IS cheating! His Mana, Int, and Luck are all blank! And look at the size of this spell list! You've unlocked everything on it! I knew there was no way I'd lose this! It's impossible!"

She puffed out her chest defiantly and gave Anon a hard smack to the back of his head, leaving him glaring up at her.

"I'm not cheating. I did exactly what you did, and this is what happened. I told you, this is my first time playing...Whatever the hell this is. How was I supposed to know that it wasn't right? You said this bases the character off of who you are in real life, right? So how could I cheat that?"

"Because, you idiot, the only way to get null stats are to either be a squib or to max them out; and maxing out stats on this isn't humanly possible, you must have cheated them. Even I only have an Int score of 103, and that's already the highest out of every player in the school."

"I think your stupid game is broken, because I very well did not cheat. I mean, I can see the Intellect being maxed, but how the hell do you calculate Luck and Mana? If it's calculating our magical powers, it's most certainly fucked because news flash, I can barely use magic myself right now. It's why I used my blood as a catalyst in that potion, because it's got a high concentration of magic. But to be fair, I think it's less about my blood and more about what's in it that's causing it."

"Just admit it, you cheated. You're just trying to find any excuse to take the blame off yourself now that you're caught. 'I can see the Intellect being maxed.' Don't make me laugh. I just told you, didn't I? It's not humanly possible to max your stats in this game."

"Who said anything about being human?"

There was a long pause of silence before the crowd of people buzzed with hushed whispers, leaving Rowanna staring at him blankly.

"Maybe that's it then. Your stupid game broke because it expects someone fully human to be playing it. You clearly know who I am, so you must know that two years ago, my arm wasn't flesh. And you don't just regrow missing limbs, do you? So my guess is that the stuff that gave me my arm back also did a whole lot of other things I didn't know about, and that - whatever that stupid game is, picked up on it and messed up my stats.

But whatever. This is a waste of my time. You clearly won't uphold your end of the bargain here, even though I totally did NOT cheat, so I'm out. I thought that maybe someone who was rumored to be one of the brightest witches at Hogwarts might actually be willing to hear me out, but it seems your ignorance outweighs your intellectual abilities."

Anon got up from his seat, and the crowd naturally backed up. Rowanna was still staring at him with a blank expression, but he paid it no mind and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Stupid. Absolutely stupid. How could he ever think that the twin sister of that stupid lackey would ever help him?

"Wait!"

He had made it halfway down the staircase at the end of the corridor before he was stopped by a loud shout from behind.

"...Fine. I'll help you with whatever, but on one condition. You need to tell me everything about yourself, and I mean everything! Oh, and I still expect the recipe to that potion."

Anon turned around and stared up at Rowanna, smiling to himself. Ravenclaws, so predictable.

"Deal. Let's talk."


End file.
